The Project SAHEL 2004: An Archaeological Sequence in the Parc W, Niger

Haour, Anne; Winton, Vicky; Ide, Oumarou; Rendell, Helen; Clarke, Michèle

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Title:	The Project SAHEL 2004: An Archaeological Sequence in the Parc W, Niger
Authors:	Haour, Anne Winton, Vicky Ide, Oumarou Rendell, Helen Clarke, Michèle
Year:	2006
Periodical:	Journal of African Archaeology
Volume:	4
Issue:	2
Pages:	299-315
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Niger
Subjects:	archaeology Stone Age Iron Age Anthropology and Archaeology Bibliography/Research Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Development and Technology
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/43135409
Abstract:	Projet SAHEL, a multidisciplinary project, was initiated to investigate long-term patterns of human occupation in the environmentally sensitive and archaeologically under-researched Sahel. This paper outlines an initial field survey carried out in this context in December 2004, in the Mékrou Valley, Parc W, Niger. This pilot study incorporated specialists in Palaeolithic and historic archaeology, and aimed to refine our understanding of the chronology and nature of the occupation of this area, an occupation already known from earlier work by other researchers to have been extensive. On the Palaeolithic front, Projet SAHEL carried out sampling aimed at assessing the potential for OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) dating of the Pleistocene sediments lining the Mékrou Valley - dating remains the major unknown in this sequence - and explored questions linked with raw materials procurement and the pattern of Pleistocene landscape use. On the historical front, Projet SAHEL carried out the first systematic collection of ceramic material, and obtained dates on an ironworking episode which allowed the cross-checking of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating and extends the known time depth of ironworking in the area. Bibliogr., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]